


Playdate

by AsymmetricalButterfly



Category: Tennis RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-23 09:44:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14931878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsymmetricalButterfly/pseuds/AsymmetricalButterfly
Summary: When Sascha spots Nick playing with Quincy in the players lounge it's only natural that he invites the pair for a playdate with Lovik.





	Playdate

**Author's Note:**

> This works as a sequel to my earlier fic (Good Manners), taking place a couple of months later.

Still dripping from his latest intense, but oh-so necessary workout Sascha strolled into the players’ lounge to be met with the usual international chatter and laughter, nodding to a few of his fellow players as he slung his towel around his neck. A gentle yelp of a bark distracted him from his course and he turned to see the small pup on the lap of somebody who had become almost irritatingly familiar, constantly preying on his absent-minded thoughts.

For all the thrill that those illicit moments in Sydney had given him, he’d been disappointed to find that his hunger had barely been satisfied at all. As much as finding himself on the opposite side of the draw in Australia had been a relief, it was a relief tainted by the realisation that they’d have little cause to cross paths over the course of the two weeks. Not that either of them had been around for much more than the single week; so much for the illustrious #NextGen, Sascha mused, his amusement tinged with frustration. There was also the small matter of the Davis Cup, which Sascha wasn’t entirely sure that Nick had forgiven him for yet.

The odd stolen glance and smile had been replaced by complete silence after that Davis Cup match, Nick blaming Sascha for the way his own body had let him down in a moment that actually really mattered to him. Sascha privately suspected that the reason Nick kept both his walls and apparent indifference up were to protect himself from the fear of not quite living up to those moments that mattered, he’d seen the same glimmer of fear in the Laver Cup and instinctively wanted to reach out for his opponent then too. Reaching out in the way he wanted to might have been off the table, but with apparent common ground between them and no chance of Nick wanting to shrug him off in such a public arena, he decided to take a step towards him.

“They’re German, you know, Dachshunds.”

“Nobody’s perfect,” Nick quipped, without even looking up.

Sascha chuckled fondly and collapsed into the sofa beside Nick, lazily leaning his head against the backrest and reaching out to stroke the chin of Quincy, who closed him eyes and pushed further into the palm of Sascha’s hand. Charmed, he continued to pet Quincy while stealing a glance at Nick who was watching this take place with a half-smile on his face.

“Your taste in dogs is almost as good as your taste in men,” Sascha commented lightly, his eyes remaining on Quincy.

“Better,” Nick smirked, “Much better.”

For the first time, Nick allowed his eyes to meet Sascha’s where they lingered for a moment. The truth of what existed between them, what only they knew, was too much and they both broke out into smiles, turning their attentions back to the dog. Not wanting to let go of this rare moment, Sascha stretched and re-positioned himself so that his knee was gently pressed against Nick’s. To anybody looking on, their seating arrangement would appear perfectly natural between two friends. Up close, Sascha caught the way Nick’s lips parted slightly as he felt the sudden, soft pressure. It was almost as irresistible to see that vulnerability laid out as it was exciting.

“You should bring him for a playdate with Lovik,” Sascha suggested.

“A playdate?” Nick asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Sure. Lovik and Quincy can get to know each other. And we can hang out.”

“Hang out? You forget I know what ‘hang out’ means in your language,” Nick teased.

“Would it be so bad?”

“Very bad,” Nick said with a tone that suggested quite the opposite.

“I can make myself free tonight,” Sascha said, barely audibly.

Instinctively, he pressed his knee further into Nick’s with greater urgency as though hoping to persuade him with this act alone. The yearning need he felt had easily brushed aside any promise he’d made about Sydney being a “one off”. Deep down, he’d probably known as much at the time, and he now found himself looking searchingly into those brown eyes that held back so much once more. He saw the slight crease at the corner of those brown eyes and felt the knee beside his own press against him with reassuring affirmation.

“Okay.”

 

* * *

 

Avoiding rousing any locker room suspicion, they’d arranged for Nick to turn up at Sascha’s at 8pm and by 7.55pm Sascha was still agonising over whether his outfit was casual enough for a ‘playdate’. He’d settled on a pair of jeans and a dusky-blue fitted jumper, but he was now rifling through his luggage for a t-shirt that might be more fitting of the occasion. The options were limited though with just an array of Adidas t-shirts with various motivational logos and, if possible, Sascha was hoping to keep the topic strictly to play, not work, tonight.

Reaching out for the only unbranded t-shirt he seemed to have packed, he found himself out of time as the sound of a knock at the door travelled up the stairs and he threw the t-shirt to one side. Smart-casual would have to do. He took his time walking down the stairs, both because he didn’t want to look even more keen than he’d got into the habit of doing and because he needed a moment to steady the nerves that had been following him around since they’d made their hushed plans.

When he opened the door he was surprised to find that Nick was laden down with various bags as well as Quincy who was peeking out of his leather jacket. Taking a moment to enjoy the visual and implication of Nick being here at all, he reached out to stroke Quincy as he had earlier that day.

“You’re on time,” Sascha commented, his eyes still on the dog.

“Yeah, I know how strict you are about keeping to your routine,” Nick said softly.

Allowing himself to look Nick in the eye for the first time he stepped aside to let Nick into the house, locked the door behind him once inside. Roused from his basket by the presence of another canine in the house, Lovik had trotted into the room and was eying both Nick and Quincy up with wariness. The wariness was quickly overcome though as Nick crouched down to reach out and ruffle Lovik’s ears.

“How’s my favourite Zverev?” Nick asked the dog, allowing him to nuzzle into his jacket to meet Quincy.

“Where do I come on your list of favourite Zverevs?” Sascha asked, with amusement.

“Well there’s Lovik, Mischa, your Mum and Dad…” Nick teased.

“Fifth? I’m impressed.”

Allowing Quincy to crawl out of his jacket and get to know Lovik a little better, Nick reached into one of the bags he’d brought with him and pulled out a cuddly kangaroo, squeaking the stomach of it as he offered it to Lovik. Momentarily, Lovik’s attention was diverted from Quincy, but quickly returned to the smaller dog after an investigative sniff of the toy.

“What can I say? You Kyrgios’ are irresistible to us Zverevs.”

Leaving the dogs to it, Nick stood up and reached into the second bag he’d brought with him from which he pulled a large bottle of sparkling water which he handed to a confused Sascha.

“I realised it was my turn to bring drinks and you wouldn’t want to be drinking beer before your match tomorrow,” Nick explained.

“That’s actually pretty sweet, you know?” Sascha said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nick brushed off, but Sascha sensed that he was actually quietly touched that his gesture had been received so well.

“I like the kangaroo,” Sascha commented, nodding to the discarded cuddly toy.

“Shame your dog doesn’t. I thought it was fitting, what with me being an Aussie,’ Nick offered, a slight awkwardness creeping into his tone, as he turned to watch the dogs.

Wanting to put him at ease, Sascha stepped forward and snaked his arms around his waist, gently kissing the back of his neck. After a slight tense, Nick relaxed and softened into Sascha’s arms. 

‘The place is ours for the next few hours. Just you and me,’ Sascha whispered.

Nick groaned, ‘You’re going to get me into so much trouble, man.’

‘I hope so,’ Sascha said huskily, leaning to kiss Nick’s neck once more.

Nick turned, searching for Sascha’s mouth with his own and, finding it yielding to his touch, threaded his tongue between his lips. Instinctively, Sascha reached for Nick’s leather jacket and pushed it over his shoulders, letting drop to floor. In response, Nick slid his hands under the soft material of Sascha’s jumper and slid his arms around Sascha’s waist, roughly pushing Sascha into the wall behind him, causing him to exhale gently before sliding his hand through Nick’s hair and pulling him towards him.

“Let’s go upstairs,” Sascha suggested.

Dragging Nick by a belt loop of his jeans, stumbling as they kept finding their mouths meeting once more, they rushed up the stairs to the bedroom still strewn with discarded t-shirts all over the floor. Nudging the door closed behind them with his foot, Sascha led Nick across the room and pushed him down onto the bed, taking a moment to enjoy the look of anticipation on Nick’s face before climbing onto the bed himself. He lifted the hem of Nick’s shirt, following the path of the hem with his mouth as he lifted it over Nick’s body, neck and then face before throwing the t-shirt across the room with finality, Nick groaning to the touch of his lips.

As he felt Nick reach out for the fly of his jeans, the moment was broken by a scratching and yelping at the bedroom door. Both men paused before Sascha stood up and opened the door to be faced with Quincy clutching the stuffed kangaroo in his mouth, promptly dropping it and wagging his tail as he was greeted by Sascha.

“I think somebody’s missing you.”

“I think somebody’s got crap timing, haven’t you mate?” Nick said, standing up from the bed and walking over the door.

Beside him, Nick crouched down to pick up the cuddly toy and stroke Quincy who wagged his tail with even further ferocity.

“We’ll come and play later, promise,” Nick said affectionately, standing up again.

With that, he threw the kangaroo back down the stair case and Quincy scrambled off down the stair case after it leaving them alone once more. Chuckling, Sascha closed the door once more and leaned against it, taking Nick’s hands in his own.

“So, where were we?”

Grinning, Nick stepped towards Sascha and leaned in to kiss him. Before their mouths could even meet, they were once again interrupted by the gentle yelp of Quincy accompanied by scratching at the foot of the door. Diverting Sascha’s mouth, Nick gently tipped his head against Sascha’s right shoulder in frustration before straightening up and reaching for the door handle. With an air of resignation, Sascha stepped to one side to allow Nick to open the door, reaching down to the floor for Nick’s t-shirt as he did so.

“You can’t even give me one night,’ Nick said, with exasperation that didn’t stretch to cover his clear affection for the pup.

“My bad. I promised him a playdate,” Sascha said.

“I don’t think he’s going to leave us alone until he gets one.”

“Let’s give him a playdate then,” Sascha said, passing Nick his t-shirt.

 

* * *

 

Sascha couldn’t help but smile as he poured the water that Nick had brought along into two glasses. Over their years of knowing each other, Sascha had seen Nick in various states of exertion – some more memorable than others – and yet he’d never seen him quite so gassed as he was now after an hour of entertaining two dogs. The t-shirt that had been grumpily pulled back on was now sticking to Nick’s body with perspiration and he was slumped into the sofa with the two dogs asleep on the rug in front of him. After their hour of rambunctious play in the garden, they’d finally settled down for the night with Quincy nestling into the soft fur of Lovik’s belly.

“You need to do more cardio, man,” Sascha said, offering Nick the drink and sitting beside him in the sofa.

“Oh mate, I don’t know how you have the energy with Lovik keeping you so busy.”

Both tired from the exertions with the dogs, they paused for a moment to enjoy their drinks and watch the dogs before them. It had been a long time since they’d sat down and simply talked, way back even before that night in Sydney, and the silence suddenly seemed all too intrusive for Sascha. Even another interruption from a playful Quincy would be welcome at this moment in time. Anything to distract from the whirr of possible and rejected conversation starters.

“I, err, I’m sorry about Quincy. I know it’s not exactly what you had in mind,” Nick said, looking down into the contents of his glass.

Sascha smiled, “I don’t mind. I had fun. More maybe.”

“Yeah, me too actually.”

This time the silence wasn’t so uncomfortable this time as they smiled at each other and Sascha reached out to take Nick’s hand in his own. It was perhaps the first time that he’d been able to reach out for Nick without a trace of worry about the possibility of being rebuked. It felt right, safe, to be sharing this moment of intimacy, as Nick accepted his hand with a squeeze.

“I don’t know what this is…” Nick began.

“What do you want it to be?” Sascha challenged, a note of hope in his tone.

“What do _you_ want it to be?”

“Us on some deserted island surrounded by hundreds of dogs,” Sascha teased, tracing the inside of Nick’s palm with his index finger.

Nick laughed, “Seriously.”

“I don’t know. I guess…I guess I want to be with you. More than once every couple of months. Is that what you want?” Sascha said.

It was the most honest he’d been about this situation since it began, all the way back in juniors when he’d catch himself watching the cute Aussie with the cool haircut, occasionally catching the cute Aussie watching him back. Now it was out there, there was no taking it back and he waited to hear what Nick would say on the prospect, his heart pounding almost audibly against his chest.

After what felt like an eternity Nick bit his bottom lip gently and began, “Yeah, it is what I want. Look, I know I’ve been a dick to you these last few months, not getting in touch and all that, but it was the only way I could handle it all.”

“You’re here now. That’s all I care about.”

Pulling Sascha gently by the hand that was still entwined with his own, Nick leant in to kiss Sascha lightly on the lips. It was the first intimate touch between them that Nick had initiated and it was all that Sascha could do not to break out into a grin as he pulled away and looked up into those eyes that had drifted through his dreams.

“We’ll have to be careful though. I don’t want the media all over us. Not yet anyway,” Nick murmured.

“I can live with that. We’ll just have to arrange a few more playdates,” Sascha said with a glint in his eye.

“Only if we leave the dogs at home next time. And the play.”

“Nicholas Kyrgios, are you asking me out on a date?” Sascha asked, touched and amused in equal measure.

“I might be.”

“Say it properly then,” Sascha dared, revelling in their new-found openness.

“I’m not saying it,” Nick said adamantly.

“Say it,” Sascha repeated, softer this time.

Nick sighed, then readjusted his mouth into a winning smile, “Alexander, will you go on a date with me?”

“I’d love to.”


End file.
